10 Tips To Create A Smooth And User-friendly Ecommerce Store

In order to build a successful eCommerce store, the first thing that every merchant would consider is making it as much customer-friendly as possible. While creating an e-commerce store can be difficult, putting some efforts in making your online store simple and user-friendly really pays off at the end. Since, shoppers have little patience and short attention span, it takes them a few seconds to scroll through your site and determine their interests. Hence, you have those few seconds to convert simple visitors into customers that will buy your products or services. Here in this post, we have provided 10 tips about creating a smooth and user-friendly e-commerce site, which are given below.

1. Make your online store mobile-friendly

In the past few years, the use of mobile phone for shopping has increased tremendously. And, many studies suggest that more than three fourth of online buyers will use their smartphones for shopping goods and services instead of laptops or desktops in the near future. With mobile-friendly eCommerce website development, you get a fully responsive online store that help you capture a reasonable share of the market. Make sure that the mobile version of your site is very simple with clear links, the checkout cart functions easily on mobile and more.

2. Use clear and high-quality product pictures

Presenting your products with high-quality pictures and catchy product descriptions could help you grab the attention of visitors and sway their buying decision. By enriching your site with the best eCommerce features and product pages, you can easily entice visitors. In case of eCommerce sites, there is no person who can convince your visitors, this is why you need to make sure to build product pages that are convincing and user-friendly. Use of good quality pictures with good lighting, you can add gallery of pictures to show full features of the product, also add compelling product descriptions. Through zoom in functions, visitors can see products closely.

3. Show trusted payment option icons

To convert your visitors into customers, you need to prove that you are trustworthy. One of the easiest ways to gain your visitors’ trust is by presenting some of the highly secure payment option icons on the site. Despite the retail industry transforming into digital retailing, consumers still hesitate to share their sensitive information such as bank details on online retail stores or an unknown shop. By implementing secure payment option icons, you can reassure your visitors about security.

4. Social media links

Today, almost everyone is a social geek and likes to share things on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. New visitors may check about your social base, they may want to see how much followers you have, how frequently you update your content and how you present yourself in the digital market. Ensure to make the social media buttons visible ubiquitously on your site. You can also get benefits through share of products on social media by your visitors.

5. Fast loading

The first thing that a visitor comes across in a website is its loading speed. And, indeed, it is one of the prominent challenges when building a user-friendly eCommerce design. Several studies reveal that website speed is one of the important aspects of user experience and most online buyers leave a site after 3 seconds of waiting. There are many tools that you can use to test your site speed, if it is not fast enough then optimize it for the best performance.

6. Customer service

Reliable customer service channels on your online store ensure repeated purchases from your customers. The elements of customer service your visitors may look for are:

• Live chat or call option
• Contact details
• About Us
• Social media

To build customer loyalty and increase conversion rates, you should focus on providing your customers the same level of experience as they get with a brick-and-mortar store.

7. Easy checking out

There are many online stores that may ask for sign up/log in to start with their website. However, modern visitors are impatient and in case of first time visitors they would like to quickly check a website to find out what’s on the site and take a quick view of it. Provide your visitors an opportunity to quickly check out with an express check out or guest check out option.

8. Keep a clear returns policy

As a buyer, the returns policy is the first thing that you want to find before making your purchase. Since, you may not be satisfied with the product you buy over the web, by going through the returns policy on an e-retailer site, you make sure if you could return it in case you don’t like it. An ideal place to add returns policy is on the footer of your website which will allow customers to easily refer it. Make the policy as clear and specific as possible so that there is no room for doubt.

9. Easy sign up/sign in forms

Keep your sign up/sign in process straightforward and as simple as possible. Test your forms before putting them in the website. You will never want that your customers abandon purchases in middle because of confusing sign in/sign up process. Hence, make sure it is completely user-friendly.

10. Free shipping and offers

Buyers are rational in their purchasing decisions and they always look for deals and offers. Promotions are quick eye-catchers especially free shipping which triggers an instant urge to buy products for most online buyers. You can take advantage of promotions to increase your conversion rate and reduce abandoned carts. Ensure that such promotions are placed on your site effectively and visible on different pages.

Final Words..

eCommerce web development is a flourishing field which encompasses design and development of highly interactive online stores that provide a pleasing user-experience and simplify the buying process. In order to make a successful online store, it is worth making some efforts in regard to making your e-commerce site user-friendly. While there is no exact definition of a user-friendly eCommerce store, there are some factors that determine the effectiveness of your site from users’ perspective. We have gone through some of these factors that you should consider to build a more interactive e-commerce site for customers. The tips discussed in this blog provide you a detailed view of how you can create an online store that provides pleasing user-experience and makes it simple and easy for them to buy products of any category.

Author-Bio

David Meyer is a senior web developer at CSSChopper (India’s #1 web design and development company) who possesses several years of experience in eCommerce website development. He holds profound knowledge of various eCommerce technologies and its related topics. He is also passionate about sharing his knowledge via writing informative blogs related to his field of expertise. All his write-ups are well-researched and innovative.